Applications, also known as application programs, are computer-readable instructions configured to perform a singular or multiple related specific tasks. Typically, applications perform tasks based on data provided to the application, perform tasks that process and/or manipulate such provided data, and/or perform tasks that produce data.
Often, the entities or parties providing an application and the data to be applied to the application are two independent parties: the application provider which owns the application, and the data provider which owns the data. In some instances, both the application provider and the data provider will desire that their respective properties (the application and the data) secure and protected from other parties. For example, an application provider may have an advanced, proprietary algorithm, while a data provider may have confidential data. The application provider may not desire to provide the application to the data provided because of a risk that the data provider may abuse the application and/or reverse engineer the application. In addition, the data provider may not desire to provide data to the application provider for fear that the confidential data may be compromised by the application provider. In addition, the data provider may desire that the results of execution remain private and/or may desire that the data provider's identity not be revealed to the application provider.